Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson edged out Rich Franklin to earn the decision yesterday and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua stopped Mark Coleman in the third round after a less than stellar performance.

Henderson defeated Franklin with a split decision even though it was believed by many that a decision would go to Franklin.  Dan did well in the first two rounds catching Franklin with a few big overhand rights.  Franklin came on strong in the third round but could not finish.

Shogun earned a stoppage in his grudge match with Mark Coleman.  Coleman lasted until the third round against Rua despite looking very tired.  Both fighters looked tired at times in a bout in which Rua was expected to easily stop Coleman.  Shogun has not looked like the same dominant fighter that tore through Pride.  His last two fights have been in the UFC and he has gassed pretty heavily in both matches.

Full Fight Card Results for UFC 93

• Dan Henderson defeats Rich Franklin via split decision
• Mauricio "Shogun" Rua defeats Mark Coleman via TKO
• Rousimar Palhares defeats Jeremy Horn via unanimous decision
• Alan Belcher defeats Denis Kang via submission (guillotine choke)
• Marcus Davis defeats Chris Lytle via split decision
• John Hathway defeats Tom Egan via TKO (strikes)
• Martin Kampmann defeats Alexandre Barros via TKO (strikes)
• Eric Schafer defeats Antonio Mendes via TKO (punches)
• Thomasz Drwal defeats Ivan Serati via TKO (punches)
• Dennis Siver defeats Nate Mohr via TKO (strikes)

UFC 93 will take place in Dublin at the O2 Arena.  The main event features Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson in a Light Heavyweight matchup that MMA fans are drooling over.  Both have moved to the Light Heavyweight division as it is the only logical thing to do with Anderson Silva stalking the Middleweight division.

UFC 93 Predictions

I have listed the UFC 93 fight card already so now I will list my predictions for UFC 93.  I did not do so hot for my last set of predictions for UFC 92 so let's see how I fare this time around.

We will start with the main event featuring Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin.

I don't think Hendersons striking is on par with Rich Franklin.  Dan has a ton of power to his punches but they are very slow and tend to be easy to spot.  Hendersons main strength in striking is his ability to take a punch.  Dans strategy should be to grind out a decision with his wrestling and take downs.  His clinch is top notch and, if he can get in close, he should be able to take Franklin down.

Rich Franklin is very much still a threat on his feet against anyone.  He doesn't have a ton of power behind his strikes but they do wear on opponents.  They will probably not wear on Henderson the same way though.  Frankins game plan should be to avoid the take downs of  Henderson and try to wear Dan out on his feet by out-striking him and winning a decision on his feet.

I predict Rich Franklin via decision.

The other bout on this card drawing a lot of attention is Shogun Rua vs Mark Coleman.  The two faced off before in Pride where Coleman won  after Shogun dislocated his elbow.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is a very highly ranked Light Heavyweight who has defeated top-ranked opponents in the past, including ex-light heavyweight champ, Rampage Jackson.  He is a very tenacious fighter who has black belts in both muay-thai and brazilian jiu jitsu.  His game plan should be to run through Coleman very quickly and earn a quick TKO.

Coleman is at the tail end of a Hall of Fame career.  He is a pioneer of mixed martial arts but has not fared to weel recently in his bouts.  Expect Coleman to look for a something similar to his last bout with Shogun to win the fight and avoid Ruas ferocious striking.

I predict Shogun by some sort of devastating strikes in the first round.